More than a year after being handcuffed and held at gunpoint during a Gilby, N.D., bank robbery, a teller is still seeking workers’ compensation from the state for her diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.Continue Reading

I think she should be compensated. WSI is a farce. I fell a couple years ago, and they paid out (no complaints there) but when I got my notification letter they “warned” me that they wouldn’t pay anything that had to do with my “disk and facet” disease. Well, nearly everyone above age 40 or so has that. It just means your back has some osteoarthritis in it. So they definitely are trying to use the pre existing condition thing to get out of paying.

I think that a valid point has been made about the $1,000.00 dollars and the attorney costs that Donna referred to however I think the reason that she has an attorney is to try and set legal precedent and fight for not just herself but for the others that follow behind her that are in her situation.

I think that the point is valid that her injury was not physical but it was a condition resulting from an injury at work. I too agree that this “mental” injury resulted from physical abuse she sustained from the individuals that committed the crime. She didn’t fall down and then claim that she had PTSD from the fall she was handcuffed and held at gunpoint. This is not a simple case of, “you are crazy”. I am a former Marine and one of the trainings I participated in was SEER and that is a school where they put you through a hostage situation as a POW. I will tell you right now that there is nothing as traumatic as a hostage situation, but it isn’t easy to relate with her unless you have gone through that kind of experience.

Another point is that no one can empathize with her unless like JK said “…never tried to file a claim” This agency has shirked it’s responsibility to pay legit claims for physical injuries let alone mental injuries, IMHO. I think she is just one of the many they have refused to pay and won’t be the last. This is an agency that by Century code requires employers to engage their services. Maybe if WSI had some competition in the state they would be more willing to pay legit claims and actually work with policy holders, however, I digress and apologize for the mini- rant.

Why also has it become an accepted norm that we pay our premiums into insurance companies faithfully for long periods of time but then when we need them to reimburse us for our losses they either find an exclusion or simply drop us because we are too high of a “risk”? They ask for our past 20 years of medical history when there is a documented legitimate occurrence such as a bank robbery. I think the cause is clear that the result of being handcuffed and held at gun point with one’s survivability literally being questioned would be enough to create a case or two of PTSD.

What better of a situation to mandate that people have a policy in place and then not have any financial responsibility at the end of the day because the situation, “just doesn’t apply, sorry”. WSI is once again not showing their best side by denying their policy holders claims. They have not acted on behalf of our workers but rather have acted like a monopolistic organization that simply looks to dodge their true responsibility. This “monopoly” should be squashed and another workers comp insurance company should be allowed to come into the state and see what they can do for our workers, it might not improve but what the heck wouldn’t it be worthwhile to see what the alternative would be like?

Let’s help this lady out and help pay her claim that is legitimate and was sustained while in her workplace and resulted from a work related injury. Pete, you are right, the code is clear however this isn’t black and white it is gray and there should be a human that can be allowed to reasonably interpret this factor on it’s own merit and pay the minuscule $1,000.00 claim and help end at least a portion of the continual mental burden Edith is experiencing. Also, as we read this article and react to it allow me to ask, what if this was your Wife or Mother? What if this was you?

I am guessing that the bank was reimbursed their losses from their insurance company resulting from the robbery, why can’t Edith? (that was a simple analogy not literal… sort of)

They wrote the rules to disallow mental injury? So what organ do they feel is the most important one in the body? And now the people are going to let the millionaire governor, who just protects the rich, become the our new millionaire senator? I just sit and laugh.

I wonder if all the veterans who served in all our wars, and I tell you they went through hell, if they could try to sue the government? What they witnessed is to gruesome to tell on this page, and they will have to live with their awful memories for the rest of their lives.

However, so many vets with post-traumatic stress disorder, are out there all alone without any help provided. Some can not get VA care because they make to much money, (what happened to our promise from the government of full health care for ALL Veterans?) Then they are denied by health insurance companies because it is a mental illness condition.

I wonder if working for the government, as a warrior and hero, they could apply for WSI? If this case is won, one would hope that many of these veterans should apply. It is worth a try troops.

These veterans need help badly, and it is a shame the way they are treated by our government and health insurance companies!